Dunedin's Chinese community dates to the 1860s, when Cantonese miners arrived during the Otago gold rush -- barely fifteen years after the city itself was founded. They came to work the goldfields, endured discrimination and hardship, and stayed. Over the generations that followed, Chinese families became woven into Dunedin's fabric. By the time the garden was inaugurated, over two percent of the city's population was of Chinese descent, and the mayor, Peter Chin, was himself of Chinese heritage. The garden was conceived in 1997, during preparations for Dunedin's 150th anniversary, as a way to honour this history. Dr. James Ng led the garden committee, and a site was chosen close to the historic railway station and the Otago Settlers Museum -- placing the Chinese story alongside the Scottish one, as it always should have been.

Designing an authentic Chinese garden at the bottom of the South Island required expertise that Dunedin did not have. The design took eight years and drew on scholars from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Tongji University, and Shanghai Museum. They chose the traditional yuanlin style, modelled on the classical gardens of the Jiangnan region -- intimate, layered spaces designed for contemplation within urban settings. Shanghai's municipal government partnered with the Dunedin City Council to fund and supervise the construction. About 40 workers, artisans, and support staff -- including two cooks -- came from Shanghai on special work visas. They worked seven days a week, with one day off per month, pouring 560 cubic metres of concrete, laying 130 tonnes of hand-finished granite paving, and assembling the nail-free wooden structures that give the garden its character.

The garden's name, Lan Yuan, was chosen with deliberate layers of significance. The character lan means 'orchid' and is the third character in the Chinese name for New Zealand -- niu xi lan. It also appears in the name of the Yulan magnolia, popularly associated with Shanghai, Dunedin's sister city. In the garden's official literature, Lan Yuan is translated as 'The Garden of Enlightenment.' The name works on every level: a garden for New Zealand, a bridge to Shanghai, a space for understanding. Within the walls, Taihu rocks form a climbing mountain at the garden's centre, their pitted surfaces quarried from the bed of Lake Taihu. A pond reflects the pavilions. Courtyards paved in hand-cut granite mosaics lead from one framed view to the next. The design ensures that the garden never reveals itself all at once -- every turn opens a new composition.

The garden cost seven million New Zealand dollars to build, funded by a combination of public donations, city council support, and a 3.75-million-dollar contribution from the national government announced in 2006. It was not without controversy. Some residents opposed the project, and early planners worried the exposed site would prove too windy. But the garden was completed, and trees planted around its perimeter walls are gradually shielding it from the city's noise and sightlines. Today, over 30,000 people visit each year. They drink tea in the Tea House, eat steamed buns and dumplings, and walk through a space that is one of only three authentic Chinese gardens outside of China -- the others being in Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, British Columbia. Lan Yuan was the first built in the southern hemisphere, a distinction that reflects both the ambition of the project and the depth of the community it represents.